6 Is The New 8

October 19, 2012

Morning stretches!

-Morning is my favorite time of day. When we both wake up and I bring him into bed to nurse and then play. He’s so much fun then and I get lots of smiles!

-In my previous life 8pm was the wind-down time. I knew I had a couple of hours to relax before bed, and I would get in bed around 10pm. These days, when the clock strikes 6pm, I know bedtime isn’t far away. Dinner pretty much ends my day and that makes it bittersweet!

-Whoever coined the phrase “don’t cry over spilled milk” must have been a mom. Because I accidentally knocked over a bottle after pumping and almost burst into tears when I lost a few ounces.

-Speaking of pumping, I made a hands-free bra by cutting holes in an old maternity bra of mine and it’s awesome!!! I’m actually pumping while I type this post. Errr…sorry for putting that image in your heads : )

-Remember the show Inspector Gadget? I used to LOVE it!! I wanted to be Penny with her awesome tablet….which she had before tablets existed. But anyway, I find myself saying “Go Go Gadget Arm” all the time when I’m nursing and my water bottle is just thiiiiiiiis far out of my reach!

-My hair is falling out like mad. It’s quite annoying because I find hairs everywhere. I’m like a pet who you have to vacuum up after.

-I love my Camelbak Eddy so much I bought another. One for upstairs and one for downstairs! Can never have enough water by my side.

-Mazen has started cooing. It’s SO cute!! He loves to coo and talk to the animals on his swing. He stares at them the whole 20 minutes he likes his swing! They are friends.

-Going on a walk with a baby strapped to your chest is WAY harder than going on a walk 40 weeks pregnant. I give my abs the credit for that. I wish I could just tuck him back inside for walks sometimes – nutrition, diapers and coziness all taken care of!

-I spent years training myself to eat slowly and mindfully and that has ALL gone out the window since becoming a mom. Now I eat as fast as I can so that I can actually get the whole meal down before M needs me. Poor food is feeling neglected.

-Since losing one of my hands at all times, I have been using the speech recognition on my phone. I didn’t use it before because it’s a bit hard to get accurate, but I’ve been practicing and it’s so handy (heh heh – handy!) to use now!

I wrote a few posts about my hair falling out. I had it REALLY bad too. Sometimes if you keep taking prenatals it helps, but nothing was helping for this mama. It all fell out for a few months and then it starts growing back so you get these crazy frizzy things on your hairline. haha

OMG, whoever says “you can just pump more” about spilled breastmilk is probably not a nursing mother!! That stuff is liquid gold and pumping suuuuckss! I have definitely had tears over spilled milk too, Kath!

I have been taking Biotin and A/G pro tabs (upon advice of my doctor) for my hair shedding. So far it hasn’t helped at all…my hair has been stuck in the shedding phase for TWO YEARS since giving birth. If you find a solution that works, please post it! My OB, my internist, and my dermatologist have been no help, they all say the stress of pregnancy is what has me stuck in the shedding phase. My labs looks great and it’s definitely not a hormone/thyroid etc issue. The starnge thing is that I didn’t have excessive shedding with my other pregnancies.

Have you had your Ferratin level tested? Most docs uses a CBC to determine your iron levels (specifically hemocrit and hemogloblin). My levels CBC levels were fine but my ferratin was a 6 YIKES! My doc called me on the phone to tell me,he was very worried. You need a ferrratin level of above 40 (ideally 90)to have good hair growth. I wished someone told me this years ago so I just had to comment….and its likely you already know but I just wanted to be safe! Another issue can be low zinc levels but that is far less common.

Mazen is so sweet! My little girl used to coo and smile at the birds on her swing – that really brings back memories for me!

It’s funny that you find using a carrier harder on your abs than being pregnant – it’s the exact opposite for me! I was tired and achy when I’d exercise in the last few weeks of pregnancy, but I only get tired babywearing if I’ve been doing it more than 2-3 hours straight (even now, with an almost 20 pound 10 month old!). When my baby was around 10 lbs I could barely feel her in the carrier; I’d walk around with her in there most of the day. Maybe you need a better carrier? I love my mei tai and my Moby wrap. Maybe also doing some light weights to gain some ab/core/upper body/back strength?

I was able to still eat slowly in those early weeks because I had a wonderful setup with my la-z-boy rocker/recliner (the SINGLE most essential baby item ever!!!!) where, with the Boppy, I could breastfeed hands-free. I’d just hold the plate above my girl’s head while she breastfed (and she nursed all the time, like 45 minutes out of every hour and a half). It was wonderful! Enjoy these easy newborn months – now, looking back, they were SO easy!! These days with a walking, crawling 10 month old who is into EVERYTHING I barely get a chance to eat all day long, I’m always running after her!

Oh man! That must be so annoying! I have a friend who put together a nursing basket that she’d grab before a session with a bottle of water, a book/Kindle, snacks, and other things like a laptop or notepad and/or remotes. She swore by it!

Haha, at least you almost cried over spilled milk, but didn’t actually. I seriously cried my eyes out the first couple of times I spilled milk after pumping. It is such hard work!

11 months later and I still can’t seem to eat slowly and enjoy food. Now I am watching Wrigley as he eats, taking turns feeding myself with teaching Wrigley not to throw food on the ground, it is busy busy busy.

i totally agree with your comment about spilling milk! it is so much more time consuming than i thought it would be. have you guys tried giving your son a bottle yet? i feel like my pumped milk is so precious i almost want to save it ! but i am curious to see how our 5 week old will take it..

Handsfree pumping is the only way to go! Not thinking about it, too, and distracting yourself, I would always yield more. And oh boy, did I ever cry over some spilled milk back in the day. There is nothing worse! At least you got that out of the way for a long time and it won’t be likely to repeat itself

Sad to hear that walking with the carrier will be harder than walking now. I hadn’t thought about that. Was hoping it would be easier Oh well. At least it will be fun. I will have a cute baby to stare down at.

Not necessarily! I found walking really tough at the end of my pregnancy (I felt huge and unweildy), and walking with the baby in the carrier was SO much lighter – remember, your baby will only be, like 6-10 pounds in the beginning (very lightweight to carry around!), and at the end of your pregnancy you’re up 20-30 pounds (with extra fluid, placenta, etc. etc.). I felt SO much lighter after giving birth, and I was going for 1-2 mile walks with the baby in the Moby 5 days after giving birth with no problem at all. All of my mom friends do extended babywearing (we tend to be a pretty crunchy group of moms) and noone complains about getting tired or sore from babywearing, even those of us that aren’t in great shape. And remember, carrying a baby around all day will build great muscles, which is another good reason to babywear and not rely on baby containment devices all day!

This post is EXACTLY how I’m feeling right now. The whole speed eating thing – yup!!! I have to stuff it in my face as fast as I can because I know Michael will need me as soon as I sit down. No more enjoying sipping my morning coffee

The cutting holes in the maternity bra thing – yup. I cut holes in a small sports bra. It’s perfect. However, when I go back to work I think I will actually have to break down and by a madela pumping bra thingy and throw it over my maternity bra to pump.

Crying over spilling pumped milk – oh boy can I relate??? It’s like liquid gold!! I DID cry when I spilt my pumped milk.

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